Revisited one of Valentin Vaala's best films. The film did not get the wide exposure it deserved at the time of premiere because it took place during the alarm-ridden autumn of 1939. WWII had just started in full, and Finland was about to be caught in the Winter War.

Green Gold was a green film of ecological awareness ahead of its time. Based on a play by Hella Wuolijoki, the critics for once preferred the film adaptation to interpretations on the stage. A sense of the forest is essential to the drama, and obviously it was easier for a film to convey.

The film was shot on location in snowy Lapland, and the magic of the winter was caught brilliantly by the ace cameraman Armas Hirvonen who had debuted two years ago with the director Vaala in Juurakon Hulda, also based on Wuolijoki.

Green Gold is also a part of our Finland 100 series. This year in the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet Staffan Bruun published a countdown of 50 key themes in "How Finland Was Formed" (now also available as a book, at the top of my Christmas present list). His Number One theme was the forest – forest industry has been a / the key industry in Finland for centuries.

Central in Green Gold is the conflict between industry and forestry. The captains of the industry are eager for profit. The foresters want to protect the wood as well as utilize it. Circumstances have changed many times over the decades, but the basic conflict remains.

The leading lady is Hanna Taini (Hanna Schlimowitsch / Chana Rachel Slejmovitsch / Hanna Taini-Lefko / חנה שלימוביץ) who had been discovered by Vaala at age 18 for her debut role in Gypsy Charmer (1929). She became a star of the Finnish screen for over a decade. She was also a theatre actress and a businesswoman, and her family was prominent in the Helsinki Jewish community, its Kamras branch active in film distribution and exhibition. Hanna Taini's main language was Swedish, she played at the Swedish Theatre, and at a later stage of her life she was an instructor in Swedish. Her sister was murdered in Germany in the Holocaust.

Hanna Taini's Swedish accent makes the character sound foreign, but it is in character. Finland is bilingual, and that's how a character whose first language is Swedish may sound.

Olavi Reimas had also been discovered for the film by Vaala, the greatest starmaker in Finland. Green Gold was Reimas's first role, but because of a processing error the rushes were ruined and the film had to be reshot during the next winter, and meanwhile Reimas played in two other films (including the intriguing cross-dressing saga Sysmäläinen, also by Vaala) which premiered first.

Critics were not happy with the stilted atmosphere in certain sequences. Taini spoke Finnish, not her first language. Reimas was a newcomer. In my opinion the occasional stilted feeling is not fatal. Reimas is supposed to play a strong and silent man who is called "vallesmanni" ("sheriff") with his abrupt and domineering manners. Taini is a woman of the world who yearns for the infinite freedom of the deep forest. They are strangers who meet in the winter, both firmly married, the Reimas character with children. In the play the Taini character has a child, as well.

Besides a film of ecological consciousness, Green Gold is a romantic love story. The Taini and Reimas characters realize at their first date that they are meant for each other, but they drop the issue since both are married and Reimas would never consider becoming the lover of his boss's wife. Things are different when Taini accepts that her husband has a lover and Reimas's socialite wife (Lea Joutseno) who finds no future in their relationship takes a divorce.

A distinction of Green Gold is a refusal of melodrama. In high circles of society melodrama is not the approach to relationships. There are scenes, but they are based on misunderstandings, soon overcome. But neither is Green Gold a sober story of relationships. The Taini and Reimas share a passion for the wild nature, and for each other, and in a profound way it is the same thing. The love story of Green Gold has affinities with Victor Sjöström's Berg-Ejvind and Gustaf Molander's Hans engelska hustru, but it is different and unique.

Green Gold is a highly visual film, and Armas Hirvonen catches the breathtaking luminosity of Lapland's snowy forests, hills and plains. Lapland is a land of magic and fairy-tales where no visual or special effects are needed. I was thinking about Max Reinhardt's Venetianische Nacht in which the locations of the real Venice were enough to convey the haunting atmosphere of the dreamscape.

Felix Krohn has composed his original score with a pantheistic, romantic approach with affinities with the young Sibelius at some points. Krohn composed only a few selected films, mostly for Vaala (Sysmäläinen and Green Gold were his first scores).

The digital transfer in 4K conveys the visual beauty of the cinematography very nicely.

OUR PROGRAM NOTE BASED ON KARI UUSITALO, SAKARI TOIVIAINEN AND MARKKU TUULI:OUR PROGRAM NOTE BASED ON KARI UUSITALO, SAKARI TOIVIAINEN AND MARKKU TUULI:

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About Me

Antti Alanen (born 1955) is Film Programmer at National Audiovisual Institute (Finland), which runs the Cinema Orion in Helsinki. This diary is an irregular notebook and scrapbook of rough notes on films and related matters. Spoiler alert: I spoil everything because for me plot and conclusion are essential to discuss!

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Freddie Redd Quartet: The Music from The Connection [1960] (Freddie Redd Six Classic Albums 2/6)

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Introducing Freddie Redd (Freddie Redd Six Classic Albums 1/6)

Jazz Record of the Week 28/2017

Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contrasts

Jazz Record of the Week 20/2017

Joe Henderson: Page One

Jazz Record of the Week 17/2017

Miroslav Vitouš: The Bass

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: All or Nothing at All (5 Original Albums 5/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Stay with Me (5 Original Albums 4/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Songs for Distingué Lovers (5 Original Albums 3/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Body and Soul (5 Original Albums 2/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Lady Sings the Blues (5 Original Albums Box Set 1/5)

Jazz Record of the Week 14/2017

The Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin: The Inner Mounting Flame

Jazz Record of the Week 13/2017

Eero Koivistoinen: For Children

Jazz Record of the Week 8/2017

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

Jazz Record of the Week 7/2017

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: In a Mellotone

Jazz Record of the Week 6/2017

Duke Ellington: Piano Reflections

Jazz Record of the Week 5/2017

Miles Davis: Bitches Brew

Jazz Record of the Week 4/2017

Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus

Jazz Record of the Week 3/2017

Dollar Brand Quartet: Africa – Tears and Laughter

Jazz Record of the Week 52/2016

Albert Ayler: Goin' Home

Jazz Record of the Week 49/2016

Charles Lloyd: Forest Flower, live at Monterey

Jazz Record of the Week 48/2016

Sinikka Oksanen, Antero Stenberg, Radio Sessions 1959-1966

Jazz Record of the Week 47/2016

Django Reinhardt Vol. 6: 1940: Nuages

Jazz Record of the Week 43/2016

The Essence of Louis Armstrong (Phontastic, Sweden, 1987)

Jazz Record of the Week 42/2016

Tomasz Stańko: Balladyna

Jazz Record of the Week 39/2016

Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else

Jazz Record of the Week 38/2016

Tommy Flanagan Trio: Overseas

Jazz Record of the Week 37/2016

Miles Davis: Miles Smiles

Jazz Record of the Week 36/2016

Red Garland Trio: Groovy

Jazz Record of the Week 35/2016

John Coltrane: My Favorite Things

Jazz Record of the Week 34/2016

The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out

Jazz Record of the Week 33/2016

Christian Schwindt Quintet: For Friends and Relatives

Jazz Record of the Week 32/2016

Carola & Heikki Sarmanto Trio

Jazz Record of the Week 25/2016

Cecil Taylor: Silent Tongues

Jazz Record of the Week 24/2016

Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard (1957, 2 cd reissue 2016)

Jazz Record of the Week 23/2016

Charlie Mingus: Blues & Roots

Jazz Record of the Week 22/2016

Mal Waldron: Moods

Jazz Record of the Week 21/2016

Django Bates: Belovèd Bird

Jazz Record of the Week 20/2016

Jacques Loussier Trio: The Original Play Bach Vols. 1 & 2

Jazz Record of the Week 19/2016

Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges: Side by Side

Jazz Record of the Week 18/2016

Ray Charles: Genius+Soul=Jazz. Complete 1956-1960 Sessions with Quincy Jones (Genius+Soul=Jazz, The Genius of Ray Charles, The Genius Hits the Road, and from The Great Ray Charles and The Genius After Hours)